


Passion comes when it needs to

by blue_singularity



Category: Brave (2012), Frozen (2013), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Angst, Bold Merida, F/M, Fan Merida, Hiccup has an inspiration block, Hiccup's an unsuccessful artist, Journalist Merida, Mericcup's the principal shipp, Parent Issues, With a bit of fluff, self discovering
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-11 23:28:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17456330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blue_singularity/pseuds/blue_singularity
Summary: Sometimes Hiccup thinks he will never be the same artist, the one that drew such beautiful paintings. His passion is broke, as well as his heart.Merida wants to bring back one of her favorite artist, and due to it, she'll need to heal his heart first.They'll have to remember each other that passion comes when it needs to.





	1. Dragon wounds

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! This is my first fic so I hope you guys enjoy it! This is dedicated to my dear friend Andrea for her birthday and for having the sweetest heart in the world. Love you!!! Also, I don't wanna compromise myself into a schedule for the updates.
> 
> Anyway, that's all. I'll let you enjoy the first chapter of this story, and if you do, please leave a kudo, you don't need to be signed up for doing it and it takes just a second! 
> 
> Kisses

 

Hiccup Haddock is really fucked up.

 

For an artist it is difficult to find inspiration when no one seems to value your work, it makes you feel down and the inspiration just doesn’t come as easy as it should do. He’s tried everything to make the inspiration come back, nothing really works though. He always ends up in front of a white canvas, feeling stressed and depressed. But it hasn’t always been like this emptiness, there was a time when Hiccup was able to create masterpieces.

 

There was a time when Hiccup’s canvases were exposed in different galleries around the country and people would like to go and see them, to see all the colors and shapes of those fantastic beasts that Hiccup drew. That’s how it used to be two years ago, nowadays people are not interested in dragons being painted in canvas anymore, they had Tumblr for that kind of things. Little by little galleries weren’t hiring his canvas anymore, and he had to start working in an unwilling office to be able to pay his part of the rent.

 

Two years ago Hiccup lost such important things: his job, his passion, and worst of all, his girlfriend. Astrid broke up with him when he told her that he’s not accepting money from his mother anymore. She was a lie, in all the possible senses. Astrid liked Hiccup, but her avarice was stronger than her fake love. When someone asks him about the break-up, he says that he completely got over it, but that’s the biggest lie he’s ever told anyone, only his best friend knows how much fucked Hiccup really is.

 

Anyway, there are a few times when he gains enough confidence for sitting in front of a white canvas again, lifting a paintbrush waiting for an image to appear in his head so he can bring it to the reality. This is one was one of those times:

 

Hiccup is in the living room of the small apartment that he and Jack, his best friend, keep together. He stares at the canvas with frustration. He doesn’t want to make a mistake such a silly line or a bad concept election. He really wants to make it right this time, he doesn’t have an idea of what to paint, though. He just wants to feel the feeling of pride and fullness that comes with finishing a painting. He just wants to feel proud of his work one more time.

 

Suddenly the door opens, interrupting his thoughts.

 

“You can stop missin’ me now, ‘cause I’m home!” Jack arrives in with a supermarket bag under his arm and the copy of the apartment keys in his hand. Honestly, Hiccup is used to Jack being this loud every time he arrives in a place.

 

“I didn’t miss you at all, brat.” Hiccup returns his gaze to the canvas, hearing the footsteps of his roommate walking through the kitchen, Jack’s opening and closing the cabinets annoyingly loudly.

 

“You’re such a poor liar. You could even forget to eat three times at the fucking day without me.”

 

“I’m not a liar.”

 

“And that’s exactly, my dear friend, the reason why I say you’re a liar.” Jack laughs while Hiccup shows his middle finger to the platinum blonde. “Oh no, hold up. Are you mad at me?” he says, he’s not able to stop laughing.

 

“You’re so annoying.”

 

“You’re so grumpy.” The guy enters the living room with a coke in his hand. Jack stares at the white canvas and the frown in Hiccup’s face. “Trying to paint something, aren’t you?”

 

“Yes, Sherlock.” Hiccup rolls his eyes with irony. Jack makes his way towards the cozy sofa and turns on the t.v to look for something to watch on Netflix. “I’ve been trying the whole afternoon and I still not having a damn idea ‘bout what I should paint.” His face is full of frustration, and Jack notices it immediately, he gets worried about his friend.

 

Of course, he has seen this before, he’s used to the mental breakdowns that Hiccup usually has. It doesn’t mean that he’s less worried. He just cares about his friend. Hiccup knows all of this. He knows how Jack worries and he hates it. He hates being pity even to his best friend. He hates the way Jack lets out a deep sigh after returning his gaze to the t.v.

 

“Take a break dude. I mean, I know you wanna make a masterpiece or whatever, but lemme tell you something my friend, you’re overloading yourself. Inspiration will come by itself, you can’t control that, and you know it.”, another thing that Hiccup hates about Jack is that he’s always right.

 

“I’ve been waiting for it to come for almost two years. And this white canvas is proof that inspiration’s gone. Okay? It’ll never come back, as well as my passion nor my job.” He hears Jack’s second deep sight. Hiccup starts to take the canvas and the easel apart, meanwhile, Jack just stares his movements.

 

“Bullshit.”, it’s the only thing the platinum blonde says before of turning off the t.v and standing up to leave the living room. “Anyway, I’m gonna take a nap. Just be sure to get some rest, you lil dope.” Hiccup just nods in response, too focused on his art materials to pay his whole attention to Jack’s words.

 

When Hiccup returns to his bedroom, he barely looks at the walls, all of them filled with nothing but a calendar and some post-its. He drops the easel and the white canvas beside the bed, and then he carefully puts away the paint brushes and the oil paintings in a cabinet with a snort. He lies down his bed with annoyance. Annoyance because of what? Because of himself. He’s sick of this creative block, and his work as an insignificant office worker in a small publicity company doesn’t make anything better. Let’s add to the list of shit in his life the fact that his mother. That shouldn’t be an issue, but when it comes to Estoico’s wife, you can expect anything but double intentions.

 

Valka Abadejo barely had a heart attack when her son told her that he didn’t want to assume his position as the director of the family’s bank. She didn’t stop him from leaving the country, though. She cares about her son, but in a very complex way: She’s always been attentive with Hiccups bills and his quality of life. But she also pays extra attention at what he does, she gets sure that he won’t do something dumb that could damage their family name. When Hiccup found out that his mother was keeping an eye on him, he got so mad that he refused to accept any help from her, including the money that she often gave him for extra bills.

 

Hiccup covers his face with his hands when he remembers that exactly the day he fought with his mother, Astrid broke up with him. That day she said plenty of heartbreaking words, which she has never be regretted of, he knows her enough for knowing that she meant to break his heart at some point of the relationship.

 

He has tried to forget that bad memory, but it always comes to his mind at some point of the day, just like this time, lying in bed with nothing but a headache. Two years had past and Hiccup still can't help but feel empty and depressed every time he sees a fucking painting. Where did his passion go? Did it go for not coming back as Astrid did? He doesn't know if he wants his passion to come back, he doesn't know anything, he just wants to stop feeling this… empty.

 

It happened two years ago, and he still remembers it as if it happened last week:

 

Hiccup didn't use to hang out very often, he either had a lot of friends, and no one hated him enough to be considered as an “enemy”. Hiccup used to thought that he was doing fine with the living, with his girlfriend, best friend, and his dreamed job.

 

He’d never think that someone was following him.

 

There was this mysterious guy that started to appear in his life very often. See, when you're hanging out, you're supposed to see nothing but random people, faceless which you see for only a second. They're not supposed to appear in every place you go. In the beginning, Hiccup thought that he was confusing two people with similar faces. But then it became obvious that that guy was a creep. Hiccup was terrified, he didn't tell anyone, though. He didn't want anyone to worry about him.

 

He kept it to himself. Until one day, he discovered that the creep was following him at home, and then he hid between the parking garage. Hiccup almost freaked out when he realized that the creep knew where he lives. He promised himself to not tell anyone, but he was scared. He came to the conclusion that his mother may help him to figure out this situation, so he called her. But for Hiccup's surprise, his mother knew more than him.

 

He looked through the window while waiting for the call to connect, it was taking time ‘cause of the big distance. His mom would probably be in the way to her office driving in the streets of Norway.

 

“Good night, mom.” He greeted when the call finally connected.

 

“ _Morning, Hiccup. Do you need something?_ ” She was busy, he knew it because of the hustle in the background. He was hoping to get at least a How are you?, but Valka was always like this: treating him as if he was something in her list for things to do.

 

“Ehm… Listen…” he took a deep sight, putting in order his thoughts. “There's this creep following me and I was wondering if you might know something about it.” He only heard Valka's heavy breathing for a while. “Mom, are you there?”

 

“ _Yes, I am. Are you sure there's a creep following you?_ ” Hiccup felt offended. Did his mother really think that he would mind annoying her if he wasn't sure about it?

 

“Very sure. Do you know anything about it? It's everything okay in the business?” Hiccup started to feel a little frustrated. Why did his mother be so slow? She usually would be the one answering quickly and impatiently.

 

“ _Don't worry. I'll make sure that guy will stop teasing you._ ” She almost sounded like a mom talking to her bullied kid. Also, there was something in her pitch that made Hiccup accusingly ask:

 

“Mom, what do you know? and what did you do?” Valka took a deep sigh, preparing her words.

 

“ _I hired that man._ ”

“You fucking did what?!”

 

“ _I just wanted to make sure you were doing fine._ ” She said it. She fucking said it as a valid _excuse_.

 

“Are you insane?! You paid someone at the other side of the world just to make sure I didn't do drugs or some shit like that?! That's fucking sick!”

 

“ _Don't talk to me like that! I'm your mother and I keep worrying about you even if you don't worry about me._ ” Valka was upset, and Hiccup was burning because of the anger. She had no rights for doing it.

 

“I'm a grown man! And don't play nice! You don't care about me! You just care about your reputation!”

 

He was lucky Astrid was asleep on the sofa and Jack was out. He didn't want anyone to see him fighting with his mother.

 

“ _Hiccup you're overreacting’._ ”

 

Now was his turn to take a deep sigh.

 

“How long have you been doing this? Was it always with the same guy?” Valka didn't answer immediately.

 

“ _Around six months. And no, I hired a few ones, just for you to don't notice them._ ” Hiccup couldn't believe that the woman talking on the phone was his mother.

 

“I moved here a year ago. You're telling me that you've been watching me half of that time!”

 

“ _Well, I'm just not gonna do it anymore since you discovered it. Anyways, I'll stop._ ” she was unbothered.

 

“I can't believe you. Where was this whole attention ten years ago in my birthdays, or my whole living?” Valka kept in silence. “You don't care about me, you just want people to think that you do.” He could feel the knot in his throat and tears prickling his eyes.

 

“ _Hiccup, I…_ ”

 

“I don't want your attention mom, not anymore. I don’t want your dirty money, nor your whole world in my life.” He lifted his gaze and met Astrid’s eyes. She was standing at the frame of the door, her face was shocked because of what she just listened. Hiccup had to remember himself that he was waiting for his mother's answer.

 

“ _Are you sure about that?_ ”

 

At the edge of breaking down, Hiccup told her.

 

“I don't want a fuck coming from you.”

 

Honestly, he didn't know what to expect as his mother's reaction. Would she scream? Would she cry? Would she scold at him? Would she apologize properly?

 

Valka just said “ _Okay._ ” using the boring pitch of hers. Then, she hung out. Hiccup checked the phone twice, to make sure the call was over, and then he realized what just happened: he just told his mother to fuck off. But it was fair, right? She violated his privacy in an insane way. What kind of mom hires a creep to follow you? What kind of mom is that insane? Only Valka Abadejo could fit in her own conception of the world. She at least was more attentive than his father, but still…

 

Aren't parents supposed to call at the day? Aren't parents supposed to trust? To… don't be fucking insane?!

 

“What did you just tell her?” He almost forgot Astrid stilled there. But she hadn't a worried expression, she was… angry. Why the hell was she angry? “What did you just fucking tell her Hiccup?!” He almost startled by her voice.

 

“What do you mean? She was watching me! Astrid, she hired a creep to follow me since my fifth month here. I told that I didn't want anything from her.” The anger in Astrid's face raised, and she pounded at his chest angrily.

 

“Are you crazy?! Why the hell…?! You have to call her back and say sorry, Hiccup!” That can't be true, right? Astrid would never say that.

 

“Did you just listen to me? I told you that she was fucking watching me!”

 

“You're so dramatic! Just call her back and say sorry! She cannot stop giving you money, you asshole!” she covered her after saying it, but Hiccup listened enough to know Astrid truly intentions.

 

“So that's what matters to you?” she stayed quiet. “You just love the gifts that I bought you with her dirty money, don't you?!” It was painful saying it. It was painful how she didn't deny it. It was painful how his heart was broken. Everything was painful.

 

“Be honest Hiccup.” Astrid’s face didn't change at all. “Would we survive without your mother's help?”

 

That hurt him. Who he was talking to? Because this couldn't be his girlfriend.

 

“Do you really like me? Or you just like my family's money?”

 

“I like what is convenient for me.” Astrid’s gaze was cold. “And ten seconds ago, what was convenient for me was faking being in love with a pity guy because of his mother's generous money. But know you're useless Hiccup. You had to ruin everything.” That couldn't be true. Why…? How…?

 

He felt his head spinning. Astrid was there, telling him that all their one-year relationship was a game, that he was used. The girl who once he loved was such a lie. Her love was a fake love.

 

He barely put himself together for saying:

 

“Leave right now, Astrid.” his voice was a whisper. Astrid didn’t refuse, she stilled angry, though.

 

“It had to be a sensible goddamn artist!” What the fuck was happening?! He was supposed to be the angry one, he was supposed to be the one screaming. But he was the one hurt and broken instead. Every time she said she liked a painting of his she was lying, every time she said she wanna cuddle in the sofa it wasn’t true, and all her ‘I love u’s were fake.

 

Astrid left without saying a word, Hiccup didn’t move, though. He knew she left the apartment just because he heard the slam.

 

He violently threw the phone at the desk and then he laid down on his bed, tears finally making his way through his eyes.

 

But what the hell had just happened?

 

***

  
He doesn’t know what time is it when he opens his eyes. Jack’s annoyingly knocking at the door.

 

“Dinner is ready! You lil shit that doesn’t help me to maintain this whole apartment!” That been said, Jack leaves.

 

Hiccup looks for his phone in his messy bedroom. When he finally finds it, his lock screen shows the hour: he’s been sleeping for three hours. Lazily, he walks towards the little dining room that is also part of the living room.

 

Jack cooked bolognese and he also put a couple of coke cans on the coffee table. Hiccup feels like a shitty friend because this is the fifth time Jack cooks for both of them meanwhile Hiccup just depresses himself… Oh my god, he’s a shitty friend. Jack appears from the kitchen with an ice bucket and two glasses.

 

“Feeling more relaxed?” the blonde asks taking a seat on the sofa, holding his plate in one hand and his fork in the other one. Hiccup follows him.

 

“Yes.”

 

“I’m glad you do.”Hiccup stares at his friend’s playful smile. Jack doesn’t quite his gaze out of the t.v.

 

“What did you do Jack?”

 

“I hung out with Punzie and…” Hiccup interrupts him.

 

“I thought you were taking a nap.”

 

“I was, but then she called me for meeting and I couldn’t say no.” They stare at each other for a while, then Hiccup returns his gaze to the t.v and adds:

 

“You’re gonna break her heart.” Jack almost chokes with spaghetti.

 

“What?! Why would I do that?!” he took a gulp of his coke and then added, “Besides, she needs to like me, doesn’t she?”

 

“The thing is that she does like you.” Hiccup almost smiled at the funny sight of Jack sighing.

 

“Well, I like her… as a friend.” Jack covers his head with his free hand. “Goddamnit. I don’t wanna break her heart.” Hiccup chuckles. “Are you making fun of me? Such a shitty best friend I got to myself.”

 

They end up laughing. Even if he Hiccup doesn’t say it out loud, he feels a little bit guilty for what Jack said. He’s right, Hiccup’s a shitty friend.

 

“Let me finish my story!” Jack demands almost choking again, this time while he tries to drink coke.

 

“Okay, continue.”

 

“Anyway, I was with Punzie at the mall…” Hiccup couldn’t help but interrupting him again:

 

“Did you take her for shopping?” he mocks.

 

“Shut up.” Hiccup smiles playfully when Jack doesn’t deny it. “The point is that I met a friend of hers.”

 

“Great.” Hiccup returns his gaze to the t.v and starts looking for something interesting to watch.

 

“Her name is Merida.” Jack talks carefully, which catches Hiccup’s attention.

 

“Jack…” he says with a warning tone. He can imagine all the scenarios that Jack must be thinking in. “What are you plotting?”

 

“First of all, you have to listen to me.” Jack’s tone is serious, and it makes Hiccup put his plate back on the table and pay his whole attention to the blonde. “Okay, so… She’s 19 and she has a very popular art blog and…” Hiccup knows where this is going and he doesn’t like it at all.

 

“I don’t like where this is going.”

 

“Just listen, please. She wants to meet you. She has seen a lot of your old paintings, and she said that they inspired her to write a whole article about your, lemme quote, ‘fantastic beasts’. Isn’t it awesome?” Jack says it as if he were afraid of how Hiccup will take his words.

 

He doesn’t answer at first. No, it isn’t awesome, because he’s actually trying to move on. He isn’t able to make a single drawing, how is he supposed to help to produce a whole article about his unsuccessful career? Nevertheless, he’s glad that someone out there likes his paintings enough for wanting to write an article about him. But still...

 

“Hiccup?” Jack sounds a little worried as if he is being careful to not break a fragile thing. Hiccup hates being a fragile thing. “I told her that I’d tell you.”

 

“That’s okay. I… I’ll think about it.”

 

“Fine, she gave me her phone number, so… text her when you decide something.” Hiccup nods in response. They continue watching some Netflix series, but Hiccup isn’t paying attention at all. He can’t stop thinking about the article and this girl.

 

Does he really wanna bring all the pain back to his life? Maybe the answer to move on is deeper in his pain, though.

 

***

  
His belly aches when he enters the coffee shop where he is supposed to meet with Merida. It took him two days to send her a reply. He wasn’t sure if he should accept it or not. Honestly, he still isn’t sure of his decision.

 

He googled her blog, and it was pretty good. It’s obvious that Merida loves both art and writing. Hiccup only read three articles of hers, though they were plenty of interesting titles that he promised himself to check out later. After he had seen Merida's work, he only had to answer himself the question: Do I really wanna do this?

 

Yes, Merida's writing skills are amazing, and yes, she's technically doing it for free, only because she really wants to do it. It's a perfect opportunity, but as always there's something that scares Hiccup, and it's bringing his past back.

 

He thought about it plenty of hours, and finally, he came to the conclusion that he wants to do this, he really wants to collaborate with Merida and make this article. He thinks he's ready for bringing the art back to his life, so he picked the phone and texted Merida before he could even think it twice:

 

 **To Merida:** _Hi, it's Hiccup Haddock. I thought about it, and I’d like to make the article with you._

 

He immediately started feeling anxious after sending it. It didn't take so long for Merida to answer, though:

 

 **From Merida:** _Great! Glad you accepted! Can we meet_ n d _cc coffee shop 4_ talkin _ & _yk _, get to know each other?_

 

Hiccup had to read the message twice for understanding what was she talking about: “Can we meet in the city center coffee shop for talking and you know, get to know each other?” God! Was that the same girl who wrote such well-written articles?

 

 **To Merida:** _Of course, when?_

 

 **From Merida:** _Tomorrow aft? Is it k 4u at 4_ oclock _?_

Again, he had to check the message twice for understanding well.

 

 **To Merida:** _Yes, I'll be there._

 **From Merida:** _Great! See ya_ thn _._

 

It was the most difficult chat he has never had.

 

It felt like if who was texting him and who wrote the articles were different people. Nevermind, he already said yes, so remorse is useless.

 

Waiting on a table in the corner for Merida to appear, he hopes he won't regret this.

 


	2. Nocturn Macchiato

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the lack of updates, i truly hope you enjoy this chapter, though. Warning: a lot of fluff is coming.

Hiccup silently waits while sitting in the corner booth. Anxiety and regret are filling his stomach to the point he thinks he’ll throw up his breakfast. He needs to repeat to himself the reason why he's here, which is his will to put an end to his cowardness. Also Jack's threat in his head: "For the love of God, if you don't go out of this fucking apartment and meet her I'll personally put rat poison in your goddamn food".

 

So yeah, he _has_ to be here.

 

Hiccup sighs, trying not to focus on the worst sceneries that could happen.

 

What if he spills his drink all over the table? What if his nervousness makes him say something awful? What if this whole project doesn't do any good to his current state? What if Merida is so uncomfortable working with him that she decides to give up and abandon the article? What if… What if Merida has already given up and she doesn't show up?

 

_God, is he so terrible trying to calm himself?_

 

He sounds like a teenager, not like a 21-year-old young adult.

 

Hiccup decides to distract himself looking at the lovely decoration of the coffee shop. Merida has good taste in places to meet, he must admit. The wood walls are decorated with a lot of flower paintings, and also some abstract canvases. It all feels super comfy besides with the sweet smell that only desserts can give to a place.

 

But it is when he looks at the ceiling, that he internally decides this is the coffee shop.

 

The ceiling above his head is decorated with paintings of angels and clouds. The beautiful sight puts a little smile on his face. He's seen a considerable amount of angel paintings in his life, yet he feels something different in this one, he can't tell what is it, though. But just staring, looking at the colors and the sensation that the canvas transmits is enough.

 

What was the last time he stared a painting just because it's pretty? He always focused on the drawing techniques, the way the artist used the color, the lines… If it was his canvas, then he'd focus on the mistakes. Nevertheless, he didn't quite enjoy a painting anymore like he was doing it with the ceiling's painting.

 

He was so immersed in the angels that he didn't notice the waitress besides the booth.

 

"May I take your order, sir?" Her voice is joyful. The kind of energy which makes you smile. The two orange braids that hang up next to her ears give her a childish aura. Hiccup wonders if he had seen her before. The little chart pinned on her chest says ‘Anna’.

 

"No, thanks. Actually, I'm waiting for someone."

 

Anna smiles widely and does a little bow after turning back to another table, "Then, please tell me when you're ready to order."

 

As soon as she pronounces the last word, the shop's door opens as a red mane arrives. It's a girl.

 

Yesterday Jack showed him a picture of Merida, which Punzie sent him. Thanks to that, Hiccup can recognize Merida standing at the door. She scans the whole place, looking for him.

 

Suddenly, Hiccup feels the urge to disappear into the soft material of the booth.

  
  
A backpack that probably contains a laptop and books hangs up of her shoulder, she wears a t-shirt of The Beatles which matches her black jeans and Converse boots. Red and black are the two colors that she irradiates.

 

A long time ago, Hiccup studied each color meaning, red symbolizes love, importance, and danger; black represents pain. Nevertheless, red is also a powerful color, and Merida’s gaze is full of authority. She’s two years younger than him, yet Hiccup feels as if he was the young and naive one.

 

Merida finally sees him through the noisy crowd of customers. She makes a wave towards him as she walks to the booth, a reassuring smile decorating her lips. She takes a seat without greeting him. First, she gets her laptop from her backpack. Then, a little notebook appears on the table and she is still reaching out for something in her bag. Hiccup is very confused, yet he decides to let her finish -whatever is she doing- before starting to talk. Finally, Merida gets a fancy pen on her hand and she zips her bag shut. She places the black pen behind her ear and turns to face Hiccup to offer him her hand, which he shakes awkwardly.

 

“I’m very glad you accepted meeting me, Mr. Haddock. I’m looking forward to work with you. Sorry for being late."

 

"Oh, don't worry. Actually, I just arrived"

 

_Just arrived thirty minutes ago._

 

"Oh", she repeats, exhaling with relieve. Honestly, she looked like she ran a lot.

 

Hiccup notices that it's raining outside, along with the wet drops that fall from the girl's red hair. He hopes she didn't catch a cold. Anyways, Merida doesn't seem to mind.

 

"As you should know, my name is Merida Dumbroch, I’m 19. I run an art blog. I major in Visual Arts. That’s it. That’s the basics about me.” Hiccup opens his mouth, ready to introduce himself, because that’s how you are supposed to continue with the conversation, right? Nevertheless, Merida is already talking again:

 

“According to Cortázar, There are three types of people: the ones that love the order, the people whose lives are a mess and live happily with it, and the ones left are just so stuck and lazy to even think about order. Which type are you?”

 

Hiccup blinks twice, lost in the confusion. Where the hell did that question come from? He focuses on the way Merida waits patiently for an answer rather than thinking in response. It’s because of the weirdness of the situation that he comes with a five-year-old question:

 

“What?”

 

Merida probably thinks that he’s an adult incapable of understanding the basics of communication so he quickly tries to reformulate his words: “Shouldn’t I tell you other things first? Like where I’ve worked or… I don’t know, where did I study?”

 

Merida just smiles fondly as if she was waiting for him to ask it, which makes Hiccup even more uncomfortable -if that’s possible-.

 

“I already know your resume, thanks.” she laughs it off. “ This isn’t a job interview. I’m working with you about your art. I wanna know about the you who produced such beautiful paintings” Hiccup blushes a little. The feeling of being complimented for something he doesn’t enjoy anymore feels odd. “Just picture this meeting as the first step of the process of doing the article.”

 

“And what exactly would be the next ones?” He feels a tiny fear at the pit of his stomach. He thought he was ready to rake up his forgotten and short career, he feels anxious right now, though.

 

“Well, you know. I need to understand your art for writing about it, therefore, I need to get to know you.” Merida starts to turn on her laptop as she speaks. She looks so comfortable with this whole situation, he wonders if she’s done all of this before. “For now, let’s just talk, get to know each other. The more info I get, the better this article would be.”

 

Hiccup just nodes, and Merida nodes in return as she waves to the waitress. Anna appears just seconds after, smile wide as always, but it seems to get wider—if that’s possible—when she spots Merida sitting on the booth. “¡Mer! Didn’t know you’ll be here on your free day.”

 

"I have a caffeine addiction to feed, ya' know? Anyway, I'll have an iced americano and one of the muffins that were delivered yesterday." Anna laughs at Merida’s fake seriousness.

 

Hiccup realizes it's his turn to order, he hasn't decided anything, though so he just says the first thing which he takes a glimpse of in the menu.

 

"I'd like a macchiato, please.” Anna nodes and makes her way towards the sophisticated coffee maker.

 

They've left in silence again, and as well as the last one, Merida doesn’t take long to break it.

 

“Can I ask you a question?” her words come out casual, yet there’s a slight caution in her voice.

 

“Of course.”

 

“Why were dragons your favorite thing to paint?”

 

It’s supposed to be a simple question. Honestly, he answered similar questions in the past so he repeats the same words he had said:

 

“Dragons have a different meaning in cultures, some see them as gods or guardians, others think they’re bad symbols. For me, they represent the good and the bad, kinda like a balance. ” Merida listens to him with full attention, which makes him feel tiny in the booth. “There’s a god which represents both good and evil, though.” he shrugs, adding, “I just prefer drawing dragons.”

 

Merida nodes, understanding the meaning of his words, and that simple action lightens his mood a little bit. It’s nice to have someone who really… _just listens_.

  
Jack’s a great friend, but you can only have a deep talk about life with him when he’s drunk, and he won’t remember anything in the morning, so. Hiccup doesn’t even talk with his family anymore. And then Astrid… Now he thinks about it, Astrid probably pretended to be listening to him when he’d explain her his thoughts about painting, as well as she must have pretended everything else.

 

Fortunately, Anna arrives with their drinks and Merida’s muffin. Hiccup notices that Anna decorated his macchiato’s milk with a heart. Wow, this girl is seriously the living incarnation of happiness.

 

Merida takes a sip of his coffee, then she returns her attention to her laptop, scrolling through her files. It is because of the laptop’s angle that Hiccup is allowed to see perfectly the screen. Merida stops in a folder full of pictures, she selects one that Hiccup recognizes immediately.

  
  
“This is my favorite one of yours,” she adds, opening the image.

 

It’s a painting he hadn’t remember. Now, he asks himself why did he forget about it in the first place, though.

 

He had wanted to paint a beast as beautiful as the night itself. The black dragon with green eyes who stares directly to the spectator's eyes stans in a shady solid rock ready to jump towards the moonlight. His favorite part, however, was the creature’s tail detail: half of the tail was a red flag, a truly one. Hiccup made that flag as a symbol of slavery and dependence. The cool analysis aside, the painting was full of mistakes that Hiccup is able to notice now. It could’ve had better coloring, as well as better proportions, and the background looks sloppy.

 

At least he was able to paint something. Nowadays he has an amazing collection of white canvases fulfilled of pity and regret.

 

“Why is it your favorite one?”, he gets the courage to ask. Merida stops in the middle of taking a bite of her muffin, just to put down the dessert and answer:

 

“The dragon.” she points at the creature, green eyes staring at some vague point at the shop. “His stare is as if it’s scared of the moonlight, it’s body is ready to jump, though. Actually, I feel pretty identified with this one.”

 

Hiccup smiles at this and Merida smiles back. And he starts to think that maybe, making this article won’t be as terrible as he imagined.

 

“So, I wanted to write a whole analysis to a few of your paintings. Specifically, the ones from your first exhibition.” Merida finally takes a bite of her muffin. Then she opens another folder named “1st STEP :P”, and all the pictures of the latter drawings appear.

 

It's stopped raining a while ago, the cold was still in the air, though. Hiccup takes a sip of his coffee, the warm filling his stomach. He realizes he doesn’t feel uncomfortable anymore. Of course, there’s still this part of him which feels a little uneasy, especially by looking at his paintings in Merida’s laptop. But at least he doesn’t feel like puking anymore.

 

Merida’s still looking for something in her laptop when the shop’s door opens with a vague chime above all the noise. He sees Jack and Rapunzel arriving at the place, and he curses for his insides.

 

_Jack really couldn’t have picked other coffee shop, could he?_

 

They lock eyes with each other, and Jack seems as surprised as Hiccup by the way his eyes grow bigger. He grabs Punzie by the wrist, trying to get her to leave with him, pressing his lips together for suppressing his laugh. Nevertheless, his plan fails as Punzie spots Merida and Hiccup in the booths and starts to make her way to their table, happily waving at them.

 

Jack just sends an apologetic smile towards Hiccup.

 

“¡Merida! ¡Hiccup! ¡What a surprise you’re here!”

 

_‘Surprise’ my ass_ , he wants to say, but he’s clever enough for staying silent.

 

“Can we sit with you guys?” the blondie asks.

 

See, Punzie is that kind of friend who manages to gain everyone’s forgiveness, she’s also that kind of friend who doesn’t take a no for an answer. Hiccup knows all of this, and, apparently, so does Merida because she just nods sharing a glare with Hiccup, silently asking him if he’s okay with it. He just shrugs.

*******

 

When Hiccup and Jack arrive home, the latter burst of laughing.

 

“-The hell Frost?” he asks pissed off, taking off his jacket. “What’s so funny?”

 

“Ah, nothing. Ya’ know, your whole existence” he laughs even harder, for Hiccup’s misfortune. “I’m sorry we ruined your meeting”.

 

“Don’t worry.” he walks to the kitchen to pour a couple of glasses of juice. “She told me that she’ll call me to meet again. Looks like this article’s gonna take more time than I expected” he returns to the living room, and passes Jack a glass. “By the way, we’re out of coffee.”

 

“Damnit, it’s your turn to do the groceries, though.” Jack gives him a serious look, one that warns him that a tough question is coming. “So, you wanna continue with the article?”

 

Hiccup shrugs.

 

“I guess…”

 

“You _guess_??!!” Jack’s scream startles him and he almost spills the juice on the carpet.

 

“Jack! For God’s sake, don’t yell!”

 

“You literally just yelled at me to don't yell. Nevermind, the point still stands. Why do you _guess_?”

 

“I don’t know. Don’t get me wrong! Merida is a nice person, but this anxiety fills my stomach every time I talk about my paintings. I can ignore it, but it’s always there. You know what I mean?”

 

Jack simply nods. He understands, he always does.

 

“It won’t fade away you know, your anxiety, but you’ll learn how to overcome it.”

 

“Woah, you can actually talk deeply. Thanks.”

 

“Fuck you, I’m literally Poe’s reincarnation.” they both laugh at this, “You’re welcome.”

 

*******

  
Two days after the meeting at the coffee, Merida sends him a message:

 

**From Merida:** _Hey! How bout we meet at th park tmrrw?_

 

**To Merida:** _Ok, see you there._

 

**From Merida:** _I have a surprise, plz bring cookies._

 

**To Merida:**   _Ok, I'll bring them._

 

The next day, Hiccup learns that Merida Dumbroch it’s all things but predictable. 


End file.
